Daily COVID-19 cases fell to the 70-thousands on Thursday amid a slowdown in the latest pandemic wave.

According to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency(KDCA), 72-thousand-646 infections were confirmed throughout Wednesday, including 229 from overseas. The country's cumulative caseload came to about 23 million-864-thousand.

The daily tally is down by some nine-thousand from a week ago and 40-thousand from two weeks ago, indicating a clear slowdown in infections. The tally marks the lowest in seven weeks for Thursday tallies.

The number of imported cases also fell by 114 from a day to 229, the lowest since July 11.

The number of critically ill hospitalized patients dropped by 28 from the previous day to 493, falling below 500 for the first time in 16 days. 

Sixty-four deaths were reported in the past 24 hours, raising the death toll to 27-thousand-313, with the fatality rate at zero-point-11 percent.

The occupancy rate of ICU beds for COVID-19 patients nationwide stands at 33-point-three percent.